The Tomboy Next Door
by everlastingdaydreams
Summary: I'm Bella Swan. I'm the type of girl friend, note how that's two words instead of one, that every guy has. Video games and snakes, hell yes, clothes and makeup? No way. But how can I get my best friend to notice me as a girl instead of one of the guys?
1. 1: Meet Bella

Hello, I'm Bella Swan. I'm the type of girl friend, note how that's two words instead of one, that every guy has. I'm the girl who loves football and video games. The kind of girl that wears baggy shorts and a sports jersey and can swear at the top of her lungs instead of wearing skinny jeans and halter tops and being a master of manipulation. Instead of having a pocket pooch, I have a five foot Corn snake living in my room named Bowser. My only female influences are Angela who is a, excuse the stereotyping, nerd who made me stay home an entire weekend, missing a Red Sox game, to apply for colleges. And Esme, my best friend Edward's mom, who considers me the daughter that she never had.

Most of my time, though, is spent with my guys; Edward, Jasper, and Emmett. These are three guys who don't have much more in common than three things; sports, video games and boobs. I'd learned fairly quickly not to be offended for my fellow females when they make some joke about her body. My life was one long sexual innuendo that still continues to crack me up. Yet other than those three things, the only thing those guys seem to have in common is me. Usually, I loved their intervention when some jerk tries starting something, but it makes it hard to get a date when three muscle heads are standing behind me glaring at anyone who approaches.

Not that I have that many offers anyway. I'm a plain, brown haired and brown eyed girl with no boobs to speak of and a butt the size of Kentucky. Not to mention a complete lack of style and girly clothing. Its not that I don't have money for fashionable clothes, I've got a great job at a Sporting Goods store, and various other side jobs, I just have no sense of style. I don't know the rules of what colors match or what's in style and what's out of style. I dress for comfort and often to show off my graphic tees of my favorite game or sports team. My conversations with guys don't consist of hair flips and batting eyelashes, they're full of arguments about which is the best game or sports team, or how to beat a level, or how to fix some problem they're having with their computer.

There's another inglorious thing about me. Not only am I a tomboy, I'm a geeky one, at that. Give me three broken computers and I can make at least on decent one, good enough to run basic first person shooter games. Fixing and editing html and c++ on various websites and games is part of my everyday routine and also a way to earn money to pay for my website and support my technology addiction. My room, aside from Bowser's cage, is packed wall to wall with computers, servers and various parts; most in semi states of repair. I also run a sort of, unofficial business out of Charlie's house. Everyone around Forks brings me their computers whenever there's a problem and depending on whether I like them or not, I might charge a little for the time it took, on top of money for parts if I didn't already have it.

Yep, that's me. Oh wait, I can add one more cliché on top off all of this. I also happen to be in love with my best friend who sees me as "one of the guys." Uh-huh, my life is a goddamned movie cliché. Except for in the movie, the girl gets the guy. In real life, the guy goes to the girly girl with big boobs using advice from the tomboy. Enter Lauren, right stage, and try to do it without sleeping with the stage crew.

Meet the girl who is ruining my life singlehandedly. Bitch doesn't even begin to describe her. Why is it that girls can see a bitch for what they are but guys can't? Oh yeah, guys get distracted by the big tits. As much as I want to stop Edward from pursuing her, I want him to be happy. But even if he's not with me, I don't think Lauren can make him happy, but she's what he wants.

Damn it, guys can be so dumb sometimes.

This is the story of the summer after my senior year in school. A story of friendship, love, and heartbreak….fuck it, I am NOT even going to try and sound like some stupid dramatic girl. This is MY goddamn story, read it if you want. Peace out, fuckers. Bella Swan.

**While taking a break from SoAaL, [which I completely intend to continue writing shortly, I've started the next chapter], I started writing this. I'll juggle both stories for now if people like this one. Reviews on whether it's worth continuing? Grazie.**


	2. 2: Meet The Guys

**I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update, life is crazy. **

**Chapter One: Meet The Guys**

The bright sunlight shining in my window woke me up minutes before the sound of a car horn. I blearily glanced at the clock. 8:00; school didn't start until 8:25, so I could get away with maybe five or ten more minutes of sleep and manage not to be too late for first hour. With that thought firmly stuck in my weary brain, I pulled the blankets back up over my head, only to be disturbed by another honk. I scowled, underneath the blanket, in the direction of the door. If whoever it was wanted me enough, then they'd come and get me, until then I could—HONK. Damn it.

I jerked the blankets off of my head and stumbled to the window, tripping on the dead hard drive that I'd chucked on the floor last night. I managed an ungraceful leap, catching the window before I fell completely to the floor. Throwing the window up, I stood, blinded, as the bright light hit directly on my eyes. Allowing my eyes to adjust, I tried to focus in on the car that had interrupted my rest. Silver, shit. "Ass." I said, glaring at my best friend, who leaned against the Silver Volvo, now sitting in my driveway. He had the windows rolled down and his hand was through it resting on the steering wheel. "What the hell do you think you're doi-" HONK. I jumped, smacking my head on the window above me. Ignoring his laughter, I slammed the window shut, rubbing the abused spot on my head and looked around my room.

Computers and computer parts were strewn across the floor, only halted by my bed and Bowser, my corn snake's cage I picked my way carefully to the opposite side of my room and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and grabbed the first shirt in my dresser that I saw. As I headed for the bathroom, I noticed that it was one of Edward's football shirts; it said "CULLEN" on the back in big, bold, bright red font. Shrugging, I yanked off my sleeping shirt, a giant Red-Wings jersey that Emmett had given me for my birthday and threw on the shirt, unconcerned about being seen in a bra and jeans, because Charlie always left for work hours before I awoke. I figured that if Edward didn't want me wearing his clothes then he shouldn't leave them at my house, good enough reasoning in my book. I yanked a brush through my hair, and with a toothbrush in my mouth, I quickly fed Bowser, before spitting. After a glance in the mirror, I figured that I looked good enough for school, not really worrying about it.

As I headed down the stairs, I heard the sound of the fridge door being opened, that weird sucking noise and then the sound of the cooling device inside kicking on. I reached the kitchen in time to be it seeing shut again, and my best friend, Edward Cullen, eating an apple. I snorted, when I saw that, and reached past him to re-open the door and grab my Monster. He grinned when he saw me, his onyx eyes lighting up. "Nice shirt." Sticking my tongue at him, I just grabbed my bag and headed to his car. It made me smile to hear him laughing at my childish antics.

He followed behind me at a slower pace. Frustrated, I turned to him with my eyebrow raised. "If we're in such a big hurry that forced you to wake me up early, shouldn't you move a little faster?" Yeah, I was a little grumpy in the morning, but who isn't?

"Wake you up early? Bella, most girls wake up an hour earlier than you. If you woke up any later, the first bell would have already rung and it's our last day of school, you don't want to get written up for your millionth tardy on the last day of senior year."

"Yeah well, I'm not most girls, remember? That's why you, Emmett and Jasper all love me so much and I do not have a million tardies." I flashed a quick smile at him as I jumped into the car.

He returned the smile, "Yep, Isabella Marie Swan, you are one of a kind." He ignored the entire tardy comment.

I sent him a suspicious look, "That better be a compliment."

"It was." He assured me, "I mean, how many other girls will let you get away with taking them to a hockey game on their birthday?"

"Ahh," I reminisced, "That was fun as hell."

His laughter filled the car. "I rest my case."

We made it to the school before the first bell rang, much to my smugness. As Edward pulled into our usual spot, Emmett and Jasper both came to greet us. Edward, with high fives and me, with hugs. "It's our fucking last day, guys, how awesome is that?" Emmett boomed at me, as he lifted me in the air like a rag doll.

"Pretty fucking awesome," I answered for all of us, once I was able to breath. Jasper, the quieter version of Emmett, threw his arm around my shoulders and led me away from the Volvo. I glanced back to meet Edwards eyes and see him wave at me as Emmett discussed our upcoming graduation with him.

"What's up, Jasper?" I asked, once we were seated on the benches.

He looked kind of nervous, "Well, today's the last day and all for everywhere around here and..." he trailed off as I struggled to grasp his point. "And since you're a girl and all, I figured that you'd be the best person to ask..." I snorted at the fact that he had to clarify that I was a girl. Yet out of the three guys, Jasper was probably the most aware that I was the opposite sex. He refrained from swearing in front of me, despite the fact that I curse more than anyone we know, and was always super polite. Edward was polite but he still seemed to consider me as a guy, the only time he ever seemed to notice I was a girl is when he's commenting on how different from other girls I am. Emmett, on the other hand, knows I' m a girl, cementing the fact it with constant, joking, flirtation and come-ons, though he treats me like a guy in every other way. Me and Emmett's game was pretty hilarious. When we were in a store, fast food joint, or basically anywhere, I would point out the hottest chicks there and he would rate them.

His rating system consisted of "butt ass ugly", "maybe with a garbage bag", "in the dark", "with some extra stimulation", "totally fuckable", and "damn, there's the mother of my children." I'd asked him about the last one once and he'd said that the girl was so hot; he'd probably forget a condom in the race to get inside of her. Some girls would probably be disgusted, but Emmett's enthusiasm with the game never seized to crack me up. He had told me that if I wasn't like a sister to him that I would be classified as "totally fuckable.", he'd offered more than once to go through with his game. To this day, I wasn't sure whether to be ashamed or proud of that fact.  
I focused back on Jasper, "Just spit it out."

He did exactly that. "Alice is coming to Forks." I made the most girly sounding squeal, I have ever made in my life, scaring the shit out of Jasper but I refused to be embarrassed. "Alice? THE ALICE? The girl that you haven't shut up about in three months?"

He let out a chuckle, still looking slightly shell shocked from the noise I'd made, and nodded.

"Yeah, how many Alice's do you know?"

I'd never personally met Alice, but I'd heard enough about her. I hadn't seen Jasper as excited and animated about anything as when he talked about this girl since his parents were killed. Jasper was the quiet, laid back one of our group. Around anyone besides us, he rarely talked. He's one of those people, that when they talk, everyone listens because if he's speaking then he's saying something important. One night he'd called me on the phone, rambling so fast about some girl he'd met downstate and hit if off with, that I'd had to force him to stop and repeat everything. They'd traded phone numbers and email addresses and talked on the phone every night, despite the fact that they'd only met in person once. But damn, if she made Jasper this happy then she had my blessing.

"So wait, what did you want to ask me?"

He hesitated again, "They were supposed to stay with Alice's cousin, but he got called off for work unexpectedly and can't, so I was wondering if you could maybe convince Charlie to let them stay at your house? If they can't find somewhere to stay with an adult, their parents won't let them come and my parents trust me, but not enough for two girls to stay at my house. They're supposed to get on the plane tomorrow morning."

No way was I losing my chance at meeting this girl. "No problem, Charlie will be ecstatic that I finally found a female friend besides Angela. Wait, two girls?"

He look insanely relieved, like he'd thought I'd refuse, fat chance. "Alice's best friend, Rosalie, is coming with her."

"Well, no problem, Jasper, I'll talk to Charlie tonight and then call you."

He hugged me, "You're awesome, Bella, I owe you."

I smiled, "I'll remember that." He laughed, suddenly more carefree than the entire time I'd known him. Watching him brightened up my mood, completely destroying whatever leftover grouchiness was left from getting up in the morning. He was one of my best friends, I loved seeing him happy. I don' t care if this Alice has six toes or collects termites, she makes Jasper happy, which means I can forgive her for anything. As long as the termites don't come into my house. Pondering that thought, I slowly wandered in the direction of my first class. To caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice Edward appear next to my side. He tapped my side, raising his eyebrows questioningly. I burst into genuine laughter over nothing and smiled brightly at him. He gave me an uncertain smile, unsure what had set me off. Shaking my head, unable to quit smiling, I hoisted my bag farther up my shoulder and walked in silence to class with him.

Jasper deserved to be happy, I was thrilled for him. After everything he'd been through, with his parents dying in the service, being tossed from adopted family to adopted family, I would do whatever it took to keep him like this. "What's going on with you and Jasper?" Edward asked me, frowning.

Biting my lip, trying to contain my excitement, I just shook my head and stepped into the classroom door. Edward scowled at me and I grinned back. I don't know why he was in such a shitty mood but he wasn't going to destroy mine. Already trying to figure out what Alice was like based on Jasper's description, I sat down preoccupied.

Edward, who sat next to me in my first hour AP Biology, shoved my notebook back at me, I hadn't even noticed that he'd had it and I glanced down at it.

**What were you and Jasper talking about that made you so happy?**

_Am I not allowed to be excited about something? _

He didn't even write anything once he'd read my reply, he just shoved the notebook in front of me and look at it expectantly. I rolled my eyes and wrote:

_Alice is coming up, Jasper wanted to ask me if her and her friend could stay with me. I'm excited for him, I haven't seen him this happy since his parents died. _

I had no idea what Edward had thought I was happy about, but his face softened when he read my reply and he scribbled quickly, glancing upward as the teacher walked into the room.

**You're a good friend, Bella. **

_You doubted this? _

**No, but I just thought I'd point out how amazing you are. **

I didn't get time to reply before Mr. Banner started talking, but his reply made me smile, despite the fact I knew he only meant it as friends. Edward and I finished the lab long before everyone else, so we just sat in companionable silence, passing the notebook back and forth. Mr. Banner scanned our papers, un-commenting on the notebook. We were his best two students, he didn't care what we did as long as it didn't interrupt the class. Instead of an exam, he'd decided that he was going to give us a lab that incorporated almost everything from the year in, which we could work on with our partners, once it was turned in, he couldn't care less what we did.

**Charlie's good with them staying?**

_I haven't asked him yet, but come on, it's Charlie. _

Edward smiled, **He'll probably have a heart attack.**

_Huh?_

**Well, Alice and her friend are girls, this is probably the first time that your dad has ever seen you associate with your species. **

_First of all, you're an ass. Second, that is so not true, I hang out with Angela all of the time. Third, now females are a different species than males? I guess I can agree with that, I've always wondered how I was the same species as Emmett. _

We were sitting so close at the table; I felt his shoulders shaking with laughter.

**I don't think that you can associate Emmett as the same species as anything. He's definitely one of a kind.**

_HEY! That comment was definitely not a compliment and you called me one of a kind earlier too! ASS!_

**You know, you probably shouldn't insult your friends so much.**

_Oh, OK, thanks for the advice, I'll make sure I don't insult Jasper or Emmett._

**Now who is being the jerk? I can't believe I'm arguing with a girl. **

_Ouch, so now I'm just classified as "a girl"?_

**Nope, not a girl, THE girl. **

That comment made me feel fuzzy inside. Damn, I really needed to suppress my girly feelings more. I took a sneaky glance at the lanky guy beside me. His bronze-colored hair was untidy as always, he wore a loose Mario shirt and a pair of khaki pants. I was forever grateful that none of my guys had participated in the new craze of guys wearing their pants around their knees. It was stupid, hadn't people ever heard of a fucking belt? No, random guy on the street, I do NOT want to see your tighty-whiteys. I suppressed a sigh, why did my best friend have to be so hot? Damn it, these were not thoughts that I should be having. I scowled at him, much to his confusion and looked around the class, my heart still pounding from his innocent comment. "THE girl." It was right there in black ink for the world to see, I wasn't hallucinating. Or at least, I didn't believe that I was.

**What is it? Its like you disappeared. You went from oozing energy to quiet and subdued. Even when you're grouchy as hell you're never subdued. **

_I'm am not grouchy. _

A short burst of laughter greeted my note and the groups around us looked up, startled. I shook my head at Angela, the closest person to me, and gave her a wry grin that she returned. Angela knew it all. Everything that I couldn't share with Edward, Jasper and Emmett, which wasn't a lot, but she knew it. Angela was the one who reminded me that I was a girl. Not that she was into the entire dressing up thing, nothing like that. But we both enjoyed all night talking gossip and boys. Without Angela, I don't know what I'd do. Probably go stir crazy.

By the end of the hour, I'd managed to regain my good mood. In addition to Edward and I's note, I'd passed one back and forth with Angela, once she'd finished, who was planning on meeting Alice and Rosalie with me for the first time, since we had plans tonight and tomorrow together. Tonight, Mike was throwing a party, and even though I despised the kid, everyone in our graduating class was going, which meant the guys muscled me into agreeing and I'd begged Angela not to abandon me. We were both going back to my house right after school to find something to wear and then we were meeting up with the guys later to go to the party.

Angela wasn't as close to the guys as I was, but they were still friends, I was a kind of bridge between them. In the normal world, Angela would have never even attempted to talk to them, she'd admitted to being intimidated by them the first time I'd introduced them. They were in different stereotypes, and even though Forks was a small town, things still worked like that, and in the normal life, jocks like Edward, Emmett and Jasper didn't associate with nerds like Angela. It wasn't that they were stuck up or anything, or thought that they were better than her, just without me, Angela would have never even thought about talking to them. She's amazing, once you get to know her, but unless she's comfortable around you, she tends to fade into the background, and she likes it that way. I had been lucky to have known her since we were kids.

My second hour English was easy, my group for the final project consisted of Edward, Jasper, Emmett and Jessica. Jessica and Emmett weren't much help with coming up with a creative way to portray Lord of the Flies, but they followed orders well and did whatever we needed them too. I actually had an exam in third hour, AP Calculus, but I was pretty sure I did well on it. Fourth hour was my Advanced Computers class, fifth was my tech support class. Fifth hour was by far, my favorite hour. It was more like a job than a class, Edward, Ben and I ran the entire school computer system. If something broke then we were the ones to call. Occasionally, the Technology Admin. would help us, but only rarely. Sixth hour was my Spanish exam, the only exam that I think I failed. Or well, did badly on, anything under a A- is what I call failing. Seventh hour was gym class, we just played dodge ball the entire hour. It was fun as hell.

The last day of school flew by extremely fast. I was really excited, of course, I still had to go to college, but that was going to be way more fun than high school had been. Except... No, damn it, I refused to think about moving away from Forks right now. I have all summer to have an amazing time with the guys; it was going to be great. Graduation was in a week, the conclusion of 12 kick ass years. When the last bell rang, I met the guys and Angela outside of the school, near the cars. Emmett with unrestrained enthusiasm on his face, seriously muscled, with the physique of a body builder; Jasper with a small, secretive smile, taller and leaner than Emmett but still muscled with honey blonde hair; Edward, not smiling, but happiness was obvious on his face, lankier than the other guys, less bulky with darker copper hair; and Angela with quiet enthusiasm, taller than an average girl, not stick thin but beautiful, with brown hair. Everyone was excited, for the same reason but also for different reasons. We were all glad that school was over, Jasper was preoccupied thinking about Alice, Emmett was imagining all of the girls he could now tell that he was a college guy, Angela was thinking about what she was going to wear to try and impress Ben tonight, I was happy that all of my friends were here together, and Edward... I don't know what he was thinking about. Probably Lauren, my smile faded slightly, until they noticed me standing there watching them.

They gestured me over, inviting me into their conversation without dropping the flow. After a few minutes of nonsense rambling, Angela, Edward and I all piled into his silver Volvo and Emmett and Jasper went to get their cars. It was quiet on the short ride to my house, all of us engrossed in our own thoughts. I didn't notice that we'd reached my house until Edward nudged my shoulder. I laughed when I realized that he had pulled into my driveway. "You know, a walk across the yard from your house to mine wouldn't kill us."

He just shrugged, "It's just as easy to drop you off here and pull into my driveway."

I smiled, "Thanks,"

"No problem, we're meeting at my house later, right?"

"Yep, that is," I teased, "If Angela and I don't get mugged on the way through your yard."

He grinned and rolled his eyes, gunning the engine and pulling out of my driveway, only to pull into the driveway next to mine. I waved when he got out of the car, "Long time, no see."

I could hear him laugh as Angela and I entered my house. We dropped our stuff on the counter and each grabbed a sandwich, sitting at the bar to eat them.

"So, what are you wearing tonight?" Angela asked me halfway through my sandwich.

I sighed, "I don't know. I'll find something."

Angela smirked at me, "I like your shirt."

Surprised, I looked down, "Oh yeah, I forgot I was wearing it."

"Edward didn't seem to mind."

I snorted, "He left it at my house, I washed it, I figure it's fair game after that."

"You know," she said slyly, "usually if you wear a guy's shirt or hoodie, it's because you're dating."

I rolled my eyes, letting that be my answer as I scarfed the rest of my sandwich down.

Angela was a closet romantic, she had this idea that Edward would someday realize that he was desperately in love with me and we'd get married, have a dozen kids and live happily ever after. I was more realistic, Lauren would wind up dating Edward and they'd screw throughout college, she'd get knocked up and he'd be forced to marry her manipulative ass to see his child, while I would live alone in a one bedroom apartment with Mr. Whiskers, an orange tabby cat. Yep, much more realistic, damn my pessimistic brain.

No matter what happened, I was going to make this a summer to remember.

**And the verdict is? I know that it's really OOC but... do you guys like it? I'd love to get some opinions for later chapters. **


	3. 3: Meet Esme and Carlisle

Princessmiac, this is for you. Not exact, but close. Thanks for all of the reviews everyone!

**Chapter Two: Meet Esme and Carlisle**

The problem with hanging out with guys and befriending girls who have almost the same lack of style that I do, is that I never know what to wear to formal occasions. Angela and I stared hopelessly into my closet, neither of us sure of what to wear to this party. But luckily, I had a back up plan when I got desperate. I called Esme.

Edward picked up the phone. "Hey, Bell, what's up?"

Damn caller ID. "Code red, give me Esme."

He laughed, "You can wear anything and you'll be gorgeous no matter what.."

Be still my thumping heart. "Spoken like a true suck up." I did love the fact that he knew what code red meant, it was small and dorky, but it meant a lot to me.

I heard Esme in the background. "Who's gorgeous? Oooo, does Edward have a girlfriend? Who is she?"

I could hear him laugh. Was the thought of me being his girlfriend so hilarious? I fumed silently while he carried on the conversation with his mom. "It's Bella, mom. She needs your help, code red." I could hear him grinning.

"Oooh, no! Tell her I'll be over there in two minutes!"

Edward came back on the phone. "Catch that?" he said wryly.

"Yeah, thanks, talk to you later!"

"Wait, Bel-" I hung up. Okay, so I wasn't the greatest friend ever, but I couldn't sit there listening to him talk about Lauren after he'd called me gorgeous. How did I know he would talk about Lauren? Because the Queen Bitch was going to the party tonight. I was going to sign out when I was ahead. Maybe that makes me a bitch but I mentally shrugged. There was a knock on the door, probably Esme. I called out the window, "It's open!" A few seconds later we heard Esme walking up the door.

"What's the occasion?" All business, I loved Esme, she was my second mother. In many ways she was more of a mom to me than my real mother had been. Actually in all ways besides blood. She'd been there for me when I had my first period, she'd shown me how to use make-up, given me the sex talk because Charlie and I weren't comfortable enough to have it. I talked to her about everything; she'd helped me dress up for my first date, knew all of the crushes I've had since middle school. The only thing she didn't know about was my current crush and who my first kiss had been. Because both of those involved her son. My first kiss was the one time that Edward had seen me as more than just one of the guys, but following it had been an extremely awkward week and a vow to forget what had happened and move on. I sighed, a week of hoping and then he tells me that we should forget it ever happened. I scowled, guys were idiots. I threw myself on my bed, narrowly missing knocking over a stack of hard drives that I still needed to test. I'd let Esme figure out what we were going to wear, any input from me would have a bad effect on the cause.

"Bella!" Esme's voice broke into my thoughts and I lifted my head. She was holding up the dress I'd bought on the spur of the moment with money from building the Newton's a new computer. It was red and sparkly with a high thigh hem and deep cleavage. It was as gorgeous as it had been the day I'd bought it, it damn well should be considering it had never been worn in public. I'd planned on wearing it to prom, but had ended up breaking my leg and staying at home watching a Family Guy marathon with Edward, Jasper and Emmett. They'd skipped to help cheer me up. Have I mentioned that they are the greatest friends in existence? The dress was pretty and girly, and spur of the moment but it was also something I would **never **wear in public.

Angela gasped, "This is beautiful, Bella! You've got to wear it!" Esme nodded her agreement, still studying the dress.

I hopped off of the bed quickly. "No way am I wearing that in public!"

That was when Esme gave me "the look." Everyone who spent any amount of time at the Cullens house knew 'the look,' and they were totally terrified of it. It was the expression she got when she was determined to force you into doing something you didn't want to do. I groaned, covering my eyes. "Why do you hate me, Esme?"

She laughed. "You know I don't hate you, dear. You're the daughter I've never had." I groaned louder.

The look and the daughter card, no way was I getting out of this easily. "You don't fight fair."

I uncovered my eyes to see her smile, "I don't fight."

"That's 'cause everyone just gives into you. They know it's no use."

Her smile broadened, "Does that mean you're going to wear the dress?"

"No!"

Angela cut in, "Come on, Bella, it's perfect!"

I turned my glare at her. This was so not fair, they were teaming up on me. "Then you wear it!"

She scoffed, "Like it would fit me, I'm way taller than you."

Esme, ignoring my protests as usual, continued to hunt through my closet, musing to herself. "Normally, I'd go with stilettos with this dress, but knowing Bella, she'd end up barefoot before the night is over. Hmmm," she hunted through my shoes before giving up with a cry of exasperation. "Converse, tennis shoes, cleats and more converse! Don't you own a pair of heels?" It must have been a rhetorical question because she proceeded to walk out of the room. "Come on, girls. I think I have the perfect outfit for you, Angela and a pair of shoes for Bella."

I dumbly got up and followed her. Why did I have to call Esme? Sure, I didn't know what to wear, but a pair of jeans and a tank top would have worked. But nooo, I have to be an idiot and call Esme to torment me. I hung my head, ashamed, when would I learn? Angela was tapping her fingers against her thigh as she walked, a nervous habit she usually didn't partake in. "Why aren't you despairing over what she's going to shove you into, also?"

She glanced at me hesitantly, and when she did speak her voice was soft, almost a whisper."Ben is going to be there tonight." Ah, that explained it. What Edward was to me, Ben was to Angela. Besides the fact that Ben wasn't Angela's best friend and Angela had a major chance with Ben. I knew from classified sources, cough Emmett, that Ben felt the same way about Angela and was just too shy to talk to her. She, though, wouldn't believe me. Every time I brought it up she would just blush and look away. I knew better than to be serious right now with her.

"So you're willing to let Esme dress you up like the little girl she didn't have, to impress him, huh? He'd better be damn appreciative or I'm going to kick his ass for you." That got a laugh and a blush, two points for Bella. I smiled.

She turned the tables on me. "And same goes for Edward when he sees you in that dress."

I scowled at her, "My problem is nothing like your problem. Your problem is easily solved, my requires a shotgun."

She tilted her head, studying me confused. Then she sighed and continued walking. "We've been friends for years and I still don't understand half of the things that come out of your mouth."

"Shotgun, you know, shotgun weddings... it was a joke."

"Haha," she deadpanned. I sighed as we entered the Cullen's house. I could faintly hear the guys arguing from the game room in the basement, they were probably playing Assassin's Creed II on the 360. I gazed longingly at the door to the stairs as Angela dragged me upstairs. I hadn't beaten the second game yet and I was desperate to do so. We found Esme in her room; we were just in time to see her pull out a blue, silky dress and a pair of flats to match.

"This should fit you, Angela." She held the dress up to Angela's chest and studied it. "You're a little bit taller than me but it was knee length on me, so it should do." She handed both the shoes and dress to Angela and pointed her to the bathroom. Angela meekly went in to change. "Now for you, Bella," She bent down to rummage in the bottom of her closet again before coming out with a pair of black heels. I looked at her pleadingly. "Esme, I hate heels."

As always, she ignored me and continued talking. "These will make your legs look amazing and raise you to the height of most guys." I glared at her. "Angela can wear flats because she's tall for a women. Gals like you and I need to wear heels because we're, well, short."

"I'm not short! I'm just height challenged." I frowned, glaring at my legs. Esme rolled her eyes at my comment before thrusting the shoes into my hand.

"Wear them. Think about whomever this mystery guy is that you want to impress. In those heels, you'll do wonders. He'll be drooling over you."

"I prefer my guys free of excess saliva, thank you very much." Though I did enjoy the thought of Edward being struck dumb by my dress. I held onto the shoes just in case. I could always decide on something else later if I wanted to.

Esme smiled at me, "Are you going to tell me who this mystery boy you're so worked up about is?"

I struggled to be nonchalant, "Why do you think that there's a mystery boy?"

She gave me a knowing look, "Because you took the shoes."

I sighed, about to give in and tell her that it was one of her sons when I heard a voice that made me very thankful I hadn't. "Yeah, Bella, who's your 'mystery boy'?" I spun to find Edward standing there, apparently their game finished with for the night. I couldn't read the look on his face. It was almost cotton covering steel. His face was friendly, but the eyes… his eyes looked almost mean. I didn't understand, but there were a lot of things I didn't get about Edward. Like the fact he was lusting after the Queen Bitch. But it wasn't my place to judge, even if he was my best friend.

I struggled with my expression again, knowing Edward was much better at reading me than Esme. "No mystery guy." He just looked at me until I looked down and started mumbling in panic. "Really, have you seen the guys in our school?" Insert nervous laugh here. "Why would I want to date any of them? I mean, who is there? Eric? I'm not shallow but personal hygiene is important. Tyler?" I gave a laugh to show how I felt about him. I could feel myself blushing. This was the one thing I absolutely despised about Edward. His ability to turn me into a blushing rambling fool with his one look. It was completely stupid. I played football with guys like Emmett, owned a giant Corn snake, knew curse words that would make even the crudest sailor blush and yet Edward had the ability to make me forget all of that and turn into a blubbering teenage girl. I clamped my mouth shut and just glared at him.

The unsettling look left his eye and he smiled at me. Esme finally cut in and made him leave when Angela came out of the bathroom.

The next few hours before the party went by way too fast for my liking. I spent it under Esme's torture with various makeup and hair tools as I fretted about what people were going to say. When she finally released me, I was relieved to see that I looked almost natural. My hair was straight, while my normal hair was slightly curly. While it had seemed that she'd put tons of makeup on me, in reality there wasn't much on me. A faint eye shadow, some mascara. She'd told me that my natural blush meant she wouldn't have to apply any on me. The dress and shoes were much different than anything I'd ever worn before. But overall, I had to admit I looked pretty good. It wasn't my style, nor would it ever be my style, but I didn't look half bad.

I smiled and turned to Angela who looked fantastic in Esme's blue dress and flats. She kept nervously running her hands along the dress and smoothing it. "Angela, you are gorgeous. Ben is going to fall flat on his face when he sees you."

She smiled hesitantly, "Same to you. With those shoes you're almost as tall as me," she teased. I stuck my tongue out at her before giving her a nervous grin, gesturing towards the doors and the awaiting stairs and saying "Shall we?" We walked slowly out. We could hear the voices of the guys who waited at the bottom of the staircase to leave with us. As we took our first step on the stairs a hushed silence filled the room, contrasting the raised voices that had met them before the turn. I uncertainly glanced down to the roomful of waiting men and what I saw amazed me. Carlisle was smiling, an almost proud look on his face. I knew Esme wasn't the only one that considered me to be a daughter to them. The feeling was the same with Carlisle and I returned it. I did love Charlie, but our relationship was more of two friends, equals, than it was father and daughter. While Charlie and I were awkward hugging each other, I had no problem casually hugging Carlisle. The next face I saw was Jasper's. His eyes were going between Angela and I, quickly. When he caught my eye, he smiled and gave me thumbs up. Next was Emmett who was grinning his ass off. He wolf whistled and I winked at him.

The final face I glanced at was Edwards. And almost fell on my ass. He looked completely shell shocked. I bit my lip as I met his wide eyes. He was the first one to speak, his eyes still locked to mine. "You both look….amazing." I gave him a small smile as we reached the floor. There was something in his eyes, not the anger I'd earlier seen, but something softer. His gaze caressed my face and in that moment I wanted to through myself into his arms. Our moment was broken when Emmett swept me up in a hug and spun me around. After Esme scolded him for potentially wrinkling my dress, I glanced back at Edward but the look was gone and his face was unreadable once more.

Before Esme would let us leave, she insisted on pictures. When we argued she just said, "Since none of you went to prom, we have to make up for it now."

Emmett groaned, "But Bella had a broken leg! How were we supposed to go without Bella?" I smiled at the implication that they couldn't go without me, like I was irreplaceable. Maybe that wasn't what he said but I was going to take it that way.

But Esme wouldn't relent. "I didn't say that you should have gone without, Bella, just that you didn't and now I want pictures." She made the guys stand in back with Angela and I come out in front, despite my sneakily trying to move behind Edward. I loved pictures usually, my entire wall was covered with pictures of myself, the Cullens, Angela and my dad. But now, wearing this dress that wasn't me, I was uncomfortable. Edward seemed to pick up on that and he teased me the entire time we took pictures. My face was bright red by the time Esme decided that we were finished and I turned around to smack Edward who was laughing at me, openly. My worries about the dress gone, I just fell back into the rhythm of our friendship, it was easy once I focused on it.

But now as Esme finished with us, I had one more fear to overcome. How the hell was I going to walk into a party in front of our entire graduation class without tripping? Son of a bitch, this had the potential to be majorly embarrassing, what a great way to start off the new chapter in my life, right?

**What do you think? Next chapter is "Meet the Graduating Class." Lots of reviews pretty please! **


	4. 4: Meet The Graduating Class

**Blarg chicka honk honk. **

**Chapter Three: Meet the Graduating Class**

I bit my lip nervously, fidgeting next to Edward in the car. Jasper and Emmett had taken a different car, leaving Edward, Angela and I to fend for ourselves. Edward had some problems with his Volvo so Carlisle had let us borrow another car, one of those just front seaters. So Edward drove, Angela took passenger and I got squished in the middle. I heard Edward heave a giant sigh and he slowed down to look at me. "Will you quit moving around? You look amazing, Bell, stop worrying about it." He grabbed my hand, giving it a quick squeeze before releasing it.

Angela piped up from my right, "He's completely right, Bella. You look awesome." I glanced at her just in time to see her wink at me and look knowingly toward Edward. I shook my head, tightly, glancing at Edward to make sure he was oblivious to our silent conversation. She rolled her eyes at me and gave me an exasperated look. I glared at her before staring stonily forward. She gave a slight laugh and Edward glanced at us questioningly.

"Nothing,"I muttered, sulking. He flashed his one sided grin at me before pulling into Mike's driveway. After he parked, he came around to the other door, helping Angela out first, and then helping me out. When he grasped my hand to help me out, he kept a hold on it for a minute, keeping me facing him as he surveyed my dress again.

"You really do look amazing, Bella." He said huskily.

I smiled at him, my high heels letting me look directly in his eyes, "Thank you." Even if I didn't believe him completely, this dress had a fairytale quality. It almost made me believe that I could get my prince. We wandered into the party, passing various people from our class who were loitering on the steps. Angela got a few gasps, causing me to grin. My smile broadened when I watched Ben walk up to her and start an earnest conversation with her. Giving her a wink, I followed Edward into the party, where I was waylayed by Mike. Forcing myself to keep my smile, I returned his greeting.

"Bella! You look fuckin' smokin'!" I gritted my teeth, refraining from telling him that my eyes didn't happen to be on my chest. Looking around desperately for Edward, he had disappeared. Probably talking to Lauren, I thought grimly.

"Thanks, Mike." I spoke through my teeth.

"Come dance with me!" Panicked, I looked toward the dance floor that had been set up in the living room. There were people from surrounding school mixed with my own classmates grinding on the floor. As I watched one blonde guy shove his hand up a girls skirt, I desperately looked for a way out of dancing with Mike. With extreme relief, I saw Emmett and Jasper standing in the corner. Emmett with a beer and Jasper with a Pepsi.

"Sorry, Mike. I've got to go and talk to Emmett."

"Oh well, maybe later." A horrified look came on my face just as Edward walked up to me.

He burst into laughter, obviously having heard Mike's final reply. "I was just coming over to save you, but looks like you handled it."

"Yeah,I said faintly, "Handled it."

He continued grinning as we joined Emmett and Jasper in the corner.

Emmett smacked Edward on the back. "You guys finally made it."

"Emmett," I leaned forward, "You know that you drive too fast if you drive faster than him." I jerked a finger at Edward, who rolled his eyes at me.

Emmett just grinned and threw his arm over my shoulder. "Chicks dig the speed, Bella." I snorted. A group of people surged to our corner to talk to the guys. Only Emmetts arm wrapped around my shoulders stopped me from being swept away in the flow of bodies. Tyler's face came into view as people wandered away after a few minutes.

"Belllaa!" He winked at me and I forced myself not to laugh. "Let's do it."

I choked, "What?"

He winked again, did he have an eye infection or something? "Let's do it, let's dance." Then he wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Or if you'd rather..." he faded off as he noticed the body attached to the arm come into view.

"Or if she'd rather, what?" Emmett said, dangerously.

"If...sh...she'd rather...not. Not dance. I mean... I've got to go." As he fled in the other direction, I turned to Emmett raising my eyebrows.

He shrugged, "What? He was propositioning you. Nobody does that to my Bella except for me." A jolt of laughter was ripped from me as Edward's scowling face came into view.

He glared at Emmett's arm before returning his gaze to Emmett's face. "What the hell are you doing?"

Emmett wasn't bothered. "I was preventing Tyler from doing something that would force me to beat his face in. Not sure why though, I really would enjoy smashing pretty boy's face."

Edwards eyes narrowed even more, a feat I'd believed would be impossible. "What was the fucker doing?"

"Propositioning Bella."

"Hell no, I'm kicking his ass." I leaped to Edward's side, grabbing his arm as he turned around, scanning the crowd for Tyler.

"Edward, stop it. You are not ruining Mike's party like you ruined Jessica's." He'd beaten the hell out of Conner for grabbing my ass and after that everyone had pretty much gone home. I'd gotten to spend the following week ridiculed by Lauren and her slut dolls, unable to do anything about it due to Edward's infatuation with her, when all I'd wanted to do was pound the bitch's face in. My lack of outward reaction had added to the belief the I was somehow afraid of Lauren. I internally snorted. As if. I could have brought Bowser in for show and tell and told him to sic her. She would have fled screaming, not that Bowser would have reacted. He's the laziest snake in existence, getting him to even blink was next to impossible. But the point remains the same, if I wanted to take on Whore #1 then I could do so easily.

Edward could have easily broken my hold, I was pretty strong but nowhere as strong as he was, but he remained tensed under my hands. "He was just joking around, Edward."

His teeth were gritted, jutting his jaw out. "No, he wasn't. If you had any idea of the things he thinks about you..." he trailed off, the vein in his head throbbing.

"The things he thinks about me? First of all, he's male. That gives me some insight, must I remind you that I'm friends with Emmett? And second of all, how would you know what he thinks?"

His piercing, angry eyes met mine. "I'm a guy, Bella."

Exasperated, I replied sarcastically. "Oh really, I hadn't noticed."

I saw the first glimmer of amusement enter his gaze. "He's in our gym class. We have the same locker room." Oh, that made more sense. Emmett had once explained the boys locker room conduct to me. I didn't see how it differed that much from their out-of-locker-room conduct, but whatever.

"All guys say stuff like that around other guys." I looked him up and down. "I'm sure even you have said something like that about some girl in the locker room, just fucking around."

The lingering amusement left, replaced with disgust directed at my words. "I wouldn't talk about any woman that way."

I released my hands from his arm, quickly wrapping it around his waist. "Well, then, you good sir," I tapped my finger on his nose, smiling lightly. "are a gentleman, while they are not."

He gave me a small unwilling smile, grabbing my hand as it pulled away from his nose and put it around his neck. "Dance with me," he suggested.  
I smiled at him, trying to slow my heart rate before he felt it somehow. "Now that's one offer I can't refuse."

We walked out to the dance floor, in time for a slow song to come on. Lips of an Angel by Hinder. I smiled, wrapping both of my arms around his neck as he placed his own on my waist. We slowly swayed back and forth to the beat. With a sigh, I rested my head on his chest, reveling in the moment. The feel of his hard chest underneath my ear, of his hands pressing against the silky material of my dress. His smell, god, he smelled amazing, pure male. The sound of his heartbeat next to my ear, sure and steady, relaxing me. Our legs brushed as we slowly danced in a circle. It wasn't the first time we'd danced, we'd danced together at dances during younger years. But it'd been different then. I'd been to young to notice how sensual it was, swaying our bodies together in time with the beat.

When Lips of an Angel finished, Edward didn't seem inclined to let me go as the next song came on until out of nowhere, Tabitha appeared to fuck up my moment. Tabitha was Whore #2, Lauren's head slut doll. And as with every girl in our grade, she had major hots for Edward's bod.

"Edward," she whined in her nasally voice. "Come dance with me." Edward looked hesitantly down at me. Tabitha was Lauren's best friend, if Tabitha liked him, then Lauren would be more likely to like him. Which meant he couldn't piss her off for rejecting her in order to dance with me, the ugly best friend.

"Do you mind, Bell?"

I released my hands from his neck, forcing a bright smile, "No problem." He let me go and turned to Tabitha, missing the dirty look she gave me.

I turned to leave the dance floor, slightly peeved at Edward leaving me in the middle of it by myself, but felt myself lifted up by another, bigger body. Containing my shriek, I went to slam my elbow into my assailants groin but it was caught as I threw it.

"Relax, Bella." I obeyed, as I felt Emmett's voice rumble in my ear. I spun around to grin at him. With Emmett here, I no longer needed to feel like an idiot. Emmett grabbed my hips and started moving in the rhythm of newest song, a faster beat and a kick ass guitar. Dancing with Emmett was a blast, I wasn't afraid to let loose and move with the music. He had some pretty hilarious moves, too. At one point, he tried to replicate disco dancing, I'd been laughing so hard, I'd forgotten to keep dancing.

After dancing with Emmett, I danced one slow song with Jasper; we'd spent the entire time talking about Alice, and then I was conned into dancing with Mike whose hand I continually been forced to move move upwards when it tried to sneak towards my ass. Despite my annoyance at Mike, the entire night was tons of fun. I'd gone to find Angela to leave around 2 in the morning and she'd excitedly told me that Ben had offered to drive her home. Excited for her, I'd walked out to Edwards car, sitting on the hood waiting for the owner to appear.

It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in sight, a full moon. I laid back watching the stars, studying constellations when I saw Edward sit next to me on the hood of the car. "Pretty night, huh?"

"Yeah," I said softly. We lay there for a few minutes before I started shivering in my flimsy dress and Edward made me get inside. When we pulled into my driveway, he came around the car to help me out. As I started to pull away, he halted me.

"I really had fun dancing with you tonight, Bella."

I smiled, and softly replied. "I had fun with you tonight, too Edward."

Finally releasing my hand, he jauntily waved and pulled out of my driveway after he made sure I'd made it into the house. Charlie wasn't home yet, so I sat at the kitchen table with hot chocolate waiting for him to return. I heard him pull into the driveway in his cruiser and enter the house. He halted when he came into the kitchen. "Hey, Bella. Didn't think you'd be back yet." He commented, unloading his gun and putting it in the safe.

"Yeah, we got back a few minutes ago. I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead." He turned to listen to me.

"One of Jasper's friends is coming up and bringing her friend. The person they were supposed to stay with bailed, so I was wondering if it'd be alright with you if they stayed here for a couple weeks?"

He shrugged, "Your friends are always welcome to stay here."

I smiled, knowing I'd guessed him right. "Thanks. Well, I'm going to head up to bed now, g'night."

"Good night." I headed out of the kitchen but at the doorway, he stopped me. "Oh and Bella?"

I turned, "Yeah, Dad?"

He looked away as he said this. "You really look pretty tonight."

"Thanks, Dad." I said softly, then went upstairs to change and go to bed.

**Want to help me?**

**Comments? Opinions? I'm looking for some ideas of a sports team that they can cheer for over the summer. I don't know much, if anything, about sports, so if someone could give me a team [and whatever sports are played over the summer]? I told you, I know nothing about sports, something that frustrates my real best friends, lol. Thanks. :)**


	5. 5: Meet Ben

**Let me clear this up: I am not stopping writing this story or any of my other stories. I will finish them. But stuff has been crazy and I never have a computer, so updating is difficult to say the least. I'm really sorry it's been so long, but thank you for waiting! **

**This chapter was so much different originally but I lost the original when my computer died so here's the new version. It was supposed to be "Meet Alice and Rosalie" but that will be next chapter since I don't have much time to write right now. **

**Chapter Four: Meet Ben**

I knocked on Angela's front door, rubbing my eyes blearily. Nobody should be awake this early. What I didn't expect was to see her open the door, wearing a tank top, shorts, a suit jacket and her hair still in the elegant up-do that Esme had created. I blinked a few times, making sure that I was seeing properly and when the jacket didn't disappear, I just stared at her. I opened my mouth to talk, but closed it again in shock when I saw Ben come up behind her, still wearing his most of suit minus his jacket. My eyes were wide as my tired brain tried to process the scene before me.

Ben laughed awkwardly, scratching his head as he searched for a way out. "I'm gonna...er.. Hi Bella."

I choked out a awkward laugh, "Hi there, Ben."

Angela's face was bright red. "Uhm, Bella, I forgot…"

Ben gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, turning her face ever brighter, before saying, "I'm going to give you ladies some privacy." And with that he turned and sauntered down the hall.

I turned my stare to Angela. "Holy crap," I whispered.

She gave a guilty laugh, her eyes bright. "I know, I couldn't believe it. We started talking at the party, then he offered to drive me home and I invited him in for a snack and… we just kept talking." She was biting her lip and smiling, her eyes bright with excitement.

"That's great," I was still a little bleary. I looked at her accusingly, "You're totally bailing on me, aren't you?"

She gave me a little "oh-I'm-so-innocent" smile. "He asked me out today and I forgot I'd agreed to go with you. I guess I could tell Ben I can't go…" she let out a small sigh, looking at me with her puppy dog eyes.

"You're such an actress," I told her rolling my eyes. "Fine, jerk, I'll go wake up Edward and make him go with me because my only girl friend chose a guy over me." I smiled to let her know I was kidding around. She stuck her tongue out at me, as Ben came down the hallway.

He wrapped his arm around Angela's waist, looking down at her. "Do you have to go?"

She smiled up at him with such happiness that I was almost embarrassed to intrude on the moment. "Nope, because my best girl friend is such an amazing, forgiving, delightful person." Ben grinned at that.

"Fucking right," I muttered, flashing them a smile and a wave. "See you kids later, don't do anything I wouldn't do." With a wink, I went back to the car.

* * *

I pulled up in front of the Cullens house five minutes later. I wanted to pay him back for his honking prank yesterday, but today was Carlisle's day off so I didn't want to disturb him and Esme. I jumped up the front steps and opened the door. It always reminded me of the chain letter Edward had sent me a few months ago when I did this. "FRIENDS: Knock on the door and wait to be let in. BEST FRIENDS: Open the door, yelling "Hi, I'm home!" Well, I didn't yell that I was home, but I did detour into the kitchen to check who was awake.

I found Esme and Carlisle eating breakfast. Esme noticed me first and smiled. "Bella, how was the party? Do you want some breakfast?" She gestured to the open seat and the stacks of pancakes. I glanced at my watch. I'd have time. I smiled at her, "Thanks," I said as I sat down next to Carlisle.

He smiled at me, "How are you, Bella?"

"I'm good, the party was fun. We all had a blast."

Esme grinned at me. "How did your mystery boy like the dress?" I flushed as Carlisle turned his inquisitive eyes on me and went into full father figure mode.

"Who is this mystery boy? Do I need to meet this boy?" he asked.

Esme shrugged, "She won't even tell me who it is. But she wore high heels for him."

"High heels? This boy must be pretty important," he said, nudging me with his elbow.

"No mystery boy." I muttered, pulling a pancake on my plate and glaring at Esme, who smiled unabashedly at me.

Carlisle and Esme both smiled at each other and apparently decided to stop torturing me. "So what are you up to this morning, Bella?" she asked, passing me the syrup.

Finishing chewing my bite, I said, "Angela and I were supposed to pick up Alice and her friend this morning but she's busy, so I figured I'd wake up Edward and make him go with me."

Esme's smile was totally genuine, "Ahh, Alice, I've heard so much about her. I'm so excited to meet her." Carlisle nodded in agreement.

"Me too, I can interrogate her when I meet them this morning." I smiled. "To make sure her intentions are honorable."

Esme laughed and patted me on the shoulder, reaching to take my plate when I was finished. "Well, you two better get going."

"Yeah, thanks for breakfast!" I ran up the steps to Edwards room. Not bothering to knock, I threw the door open and jumped on the bed. He grunted, yanking his blankets over his head. "Go away, Emmett." I gasped and smacked him.

"I do not weigh as much as Emmett!" He pulled the covers from over his head and looked at me.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you going to pick up Alice and Rosalie since Jasper's at work?" I loved times like this, when I got to wake him up. Usually he ended up waking me up and no matter what I did, I almost never could wake up before him. His hair was messed up a little more than normal and his golden eyes were still sleepy.

"You're right. I am going to pick them up." I waited, smiling as he looked at me suspiciously,

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you're going with me."

He groaned and tried to pull the covers back over his head. "Nuh-uh, if I'm not allowed to sleep then you're not allowed to sleep. Get your lazy butt out of bed." I grinned, using the line that he always used on me. He glared at me but was surprisingly compliant. He threw his legs off the bed, the covers falling off, giving me a nice view of muscular legs and a ripped chest. Biting back a smile and a blush, I wandered over to his wall, pretending to look at the pictures of us when we were younger, while he pulled pants and a shirt over his boxers. Holy camoly, I mentally fanned myself, committing the image I'd just seen to memory. I'd already know that he was in shape, we'd been best friends for years. It's impossible to be as close as we are and for me to have no seen him shirtless. We'd gone swimming before, but somehow seeing him in boxers was much hotter then seeing him in swimming trunks, even if they were almost the same thing. It made me want to...

Damn, I shouldn't be thinking this about my best friend. He would be freaked out if he knew my impure thoughts about him. He came up next to me, glancing at the wall with a smile. "We've had some fun times, haven't we?" I really looked at the wall this time. There were pictures of us at all ages. Last year at my birthday party, a picture of me, Angela, and the guys. One from a few years back, Edward and I sitting on a swing, my head resting on his shoulder, his arm around me. One from this year, I was wearing Edward's muddy helmet as he lifted me over his head after they'd won championships in football.

"Yeah," I glanced at him with a grin. "I guess being your friend has been worth it." He nudged me with his shoulder before we headed downstairs. Saying a quick goodbye to Esme and Carlisle we headed out to pick up Jasper's girlfriend and her friend.

**I know it's not that great, but nothing, in my opinion, can equal the original. Losing that chapter was depressing because I worked so hard on it. It's short, I'm sorry. Next time I promise, I'll try to make it long. A little love might cheer me up about now! **


	6. 6: Meet Alice and Rosalie

**I know, I'm a terrible bitch. But here is your update. **

**Chapter Four: Meet Alice and Rosalie**

The ride there was uneventful. I played the radio loudly and sung to prevent Edward from falling back to sleep on me. He'd grudgingly admitted amusement after our mock fight for the volume control. I glanced at Edward who was throwing back Monsters like nobody's business. "If you get sick, it's not my problem."

He scoffed. "Have I ever gotten sick from drinking energy drinks, Isabella?" I scowled at him. He knew that I hated my full name.

"My name is Bella." I said warningly. "And I was just letting you know that I'm not letting you puke in my car."

"The name on your birth certificate is Isabella Marie Swan."

"Okay, Mr. Edward Anthony Cullen." I scowled at him.

He grinned, unashamed. "Hey, my full name doesn't bother me. I happen to be proud of the name my parents gave me."

Damn it. "Yeah, well, you play the piano."

He snorted, knowing that if I'd resorted to petty insults such as that, then I hadn't been able to think of anything else. "Yes, I do. And you love it."

I couldn't deny that. He'd composed several pieces, all of them amazing. The first thing I ever remember hearing that he'd done had been my lullaby. Back in our freshman year, I'd been having trouble sleeping and he knew it, so he snuck into my room through the tree outside my window and had held me, humming until I fell asleep. A few weeks after, after me begging him to tell me what he'd been humming, he'd admitted that he'd composed it on the piano. I'd been ridiculously proud of him, and forced him to play it for me. It was even better coming from the piano.

He'd apparently realized how much I loved it, because he'd given me a CD recording of it for my next birthday. As soon as I'd gotten my MP3 player, I'd burned the song onto there, but I'd kept the original CD is a special case I'd made, in its honorary spot on my shelf.

"That's besides the point. It's a ridiculously girly instrument," I teased him. I knew it didn't bother Edward, he was at ease with his piano playing, mostly because of me. He'd been so embarrassed about it when he'd first showed me. I'd spent months giving him confidence in his skill, showing him successful, well known, male pianists that were widely liked. It had taken a while, but he'd eventually come to terms and gotten rid of his embarrassment. He'd even admitted it to Jasper and Emmett, with my help, who surprisingly didn't crack jokes at the time. They did now, but it was different when Edward was confident in himself.

He flashed a grin at me. "Ah, now the bird sings a different tune. I remember you begging me to play for you as you showed me pictures of other guys." He snorted.

"Hey!" I reached over to smack him, keeping my eyes on the road. "It worked, thank you very much."

"I do," he said suddenly, his voice serious.

"What?" I shot him a puzzled glance.

"I do thank you. Without you, I would still be sneaking to the music store in the city to play, instead of having my own piano in my room. I'd still be ashamed of it. So thank you."

I bit my lip. "That's not true, Edward. You would have come to terms with it eventually."

"Maybe," he said. "But I doubt it. I mean, come on Bella. Emmett is one of my best friends. I would have never, in a million years, expected him to take it so stoically, without laughing, if I hadn't experienced it myself. I still think you have something to do with that," he shot me a look. "But I can deal with it now." I focused on not looking guilty. I had threatened to maim Emmett, if he so much as made on girl joke. While Emmett would have said it in jest, Edward would have been crushed. I couldn't let that happen.

"It wasn't a big deal," I muttered.

"It was to me," I felt his hand touch my shoulder.

"Well, I guess, you're welcome then. And you're my best friend, you don't have to thank me, regardless. You've helped me out plenty of times. I found out about your piano playing, because you were trying to help me when I was stressed out, despite the fact that you were so embarrassed about it."

"You're my best friend," he said with a shrug, like that explained it. "Of course, I was going to do anything to help you."

"See?" I said softly.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he said with a laugh.

I glanced at him, throwing him a smile. "We've been best friends since we were little, I think all of our thank yous are implied by now."

He grinned, chugging the rest of the Monster. "I'm really lucky to have you as a friend, Bella."

I grinned back, "Duh, isn't that what I've been telling you for years?"

The rest of the ride there was very pleasant.

* * *

The airport was ridiculously crowded for six in the morning. What were all of these people doing awake willingly, I wondered. Alice and Rosalie's plane had just come down the runway, so we waited at the gate for them. I had the picture Jasper had reluctantly parted with in order to find them. When the rush of people surged through, they were easy to spot. It wasn't height, Alice was shorter than me, and Rosalie wasn't much taller. It was sheer force of personality.

My stomach dropped, and I gave a self-conscious look at myself. I was wearing ripped jeans and the shirt Avenged Sevenfold shirt that Edward had given me for a birthday a few years ago. I knew my hair was crazy messy, because I hadn't touched it when I left the house. I found myself wishing I had spent some time getting ready, before leaving. I tugged my shirt down, nervously. I had never been so self-conscious in my life, but next to these two works of perfection, it wasn't surprising. They weren't very similar. Alice danced her way over to us, her pixie hair cut spiked and glittering. Rosalie strutted, her flowing blonde hair wafting around her shoulders. They both were wearing what looked like designer clothes and dragging a mountain of suitcases, while wearing stiletto heels. They were the exact opposites of me.

Edward stepped forward first, not noticing my internal struggle. "You must be Alice," he said the the pixie. "And you must be Rosalie." Rosalie smiled at him, while Alice threw herself into his arms. "Uhm," I saw Edward throw me a panicked glance.

"Ohh, you must be Edward," she said releasing him and clapping her hands. "And you must be Bella!" My eyes widened as she set her sight on me and threw herself at me. I flinched, unable to stop myself and saw Rosalie laugh. For such a small girl, she sure packed a punch. I was pretty sure my ribs were going to be bruised once she released me from the hug. "We're going to be great friends," she said earnestly to me.

"Uh, yeah. Hi." I gave her a small smile in return.

Rosalie walked up to me with a rueful grin, "I'm Rosalie. And of course, that's Alice." She dropped her voice, "You'll get used to her."

I laughed. "If she's anything like Jasper told me she was, I'm sure I'll love her."

I glanced back at Edward to see how he was faring with Alice and I smiled. He had grabbed a bunch of the suitcases and was lugging them as Alice chatted excitedly in his ear.

"She's a very friendly person," I commented, grabbing some of Rosalie's suitcases for her.

"Thanks. Yeah, she's a people person. It's hard to dislike her."

"I doubt I will. Jasper raves about her, and if he's that crazy about her, she must be pretty special."

Rosalie glanced at me, taking in my clothes, lack of make up, hair, everything. "It must be really weird, having 3 guy best friends." Ah, so Jasper had talked about all of us.

I tugged self-consciously at my shirt again. "Not really, I'm used to them."

"I'm not insulting you, Bella." She had noticed my movement and interpreted it correctly. "Just commenting. You've led a different life than I have. I really like your shirt by the way." I glanced at her, suspiciously. Was she making fun of me? "I'm serious," she sighed. "Bella, I want us to be friends. I'm not trying to make fun of you, I like Avenged Sevenfold."

I shook my head, with a small laugh. "Sorry, I can't imagine you liking a band like that."

"Why? Because of how I dress?" She didn't sound mad, just inquisitive.

"I guess," I said with a shrug. "Maybe I have some stereotypes."

"Dressing like a girl doesn't mean you have to turn into a girly girl." I shrugged, uncomfortably. Rosalie, noticing my unease at this conversation, stopped and changed the subject. "So tell me about your guys."

I smiled at her phrasing. "Well, Jasper is the quiet one. He's ridiculously polite and has, I admit, a very sexy drawl." I flashed a grin at her, that was returned. "He was over the moon when he met Alice. He called me at three in the morning, raving about how he met this amazing girl who he thought was the one. You haven't met Jasper, but once you do, you'll realize how out of character that is for him." I shook my head. "I mean, he fits in with us, like a piece of a puzzle, but you wouldn't expect it, because he has the least in common with all of us."

She smiled. "Alice was the same way after she met him. She called me, though, while in the bathroom, right after having met him. She thought he was the one at first glance," she laughed. "That's Alice for you. I'll warn you now, never bet against that girl. She'll always win. I don't know how, but she will."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to pass it on. Hmm, let's see. Emmett is my big brother. He's like a bear." I rolled my eyes with a smile. "A big teddy bear. Sure, he acts tough, but he cried watching Marley and Me." I flashed a conspirators grin at her. "Don't let him know I told you that. He's also the joker. And the player. If he doesn't hit on me some day, then I know there's something wrong with him. Physically, he's just..." I shook my head again, "he's really freaking big. That's why I call him the bear. He's got the body mass of a grizzly bear," I said with a snort. "But the compassion of a teddy bear."

Rosalie was watching me curiously. "What about Edward?"

I paused. "Edward is... Edward." I shrugged before continuing, "he's hard to explain. We've been best friends since pre-school, and I still can't explain him. He's really sweet sometimes. He's like the medium between Jasper and Emmett. He's a quarter like Jasper, quarter like Emmett, and the rest," I shrugged helplessly, "the rest is just himself."

She opened her mouth, like she wanted to ask something, but closed it again. We made it to the car and loaded everything in. It barely fit. How could two girls have so much luggage, I wondered. Once everything was loaded, we piled in. Rosalie took the back seat, at least what was left of it after their luggage was stacked, and Edward insisted on driving on the way back. I ended up in the middle of the front seat, pushed against Edward so that I wouldn't squish Alice.

Who continued to spew spectacularly. It was amazing to watch. I would have never imagined that someone could talk that much without getting serious dry mouth. It wasn't boring, it was just... multitudinous. She acted like we'd known her for years, and were just catching up. Rosalie just accepted it, with an amused look on her face. Edward smiled and answered her back, like they were just two old friends.

"So what about you, Bella?"

"I err," what had she asked me? "What was that?" I could hear Edward snort softly next to me, and I reached over and gripped his thigh, hard. He winced and glared at me. Alice noticed where my hand was, with her eyebrows raised. I yanked it back.

"I asked you if you had a boyfriend," she said slowly. "I didn't realize that you two were.."

My eyes widened. "Me and Edward?" I squeaked out. "No," I gave a nervous laugh. "We're just friends." I saw him scowl at me, and I gave him a questioning look. He neglected to answer it, just stared moodily out the windshield. I frowned, wondering if it was Alice's comment that had upset him. Was even the thought of being my boyfriend so disgusting that he couldn't stand it? I bit my lip and scooted farther away from him, my knee bumping Alice's.

She mouthed the word 'Sorry' to me, obviously realizing she'd hit a sore spot. I shrugged with a fake smile at her. After a few awkward, silent moments, she started the flow of conversation again. "Jasper said that we were staying with you, Bella."

Grateful for something to distract me from Edward's apparent upset, I turned slightly, facing her. "Yeah, I talked to my dad already, he was fine with it." I glanced at Edward, waiting for him to make a comment about Charlie's elation at me having found friends who were female, but he didn't say anything. I frowned and glanced down. "My house isn't very big, but there's a guest room with two beds."

Alice smiled, her hands clasped in front of her. "That's perfect."

"I err." Oh shit. Had Jasper mentioned Bowser to them? That would be just fucking perfect if one of them was afraid of snakes. "Please tell me that neither of you are deathly afraid of snakes." I glanced back and forth between Alice and Rosalie. Edward was laughing softly beside me, apparently over whatever had upset him.

Rosalie answered for both of them. "Nope. Snakes don't bother either of us."

I sighed, "Okay, that's good. I uh, have a snake."

Alice tilted her head. "That doesn't surprise me."

I flushed. Yeah, I get it. You're designer clothes and pocket pets, while I'm ratted clothes and snakes. I knew that wasn't what Alice meant, but I hated feeling like this. Jessica wore designer clothes, or at least what she claimed was designer clothes, and it didn't bother me. But that was because my friends didn't like her. Jasper really liked Alice, who was the exact opposite of me. I was afraid that they were going to become part of our group, and the guys would like them better, because they acted like girls. It was stupid. Completely asinine. I knew the guys would never ditch me. I was just being an idiot. I rubbed my hand over my face, looking at the clock. That was it. It was just way too early in the morning for me to even function correctly, let alone think coherently. Once I went to bed for about 10 hours, I would be okay.

The last thing I remembered from the ride was Alice talking about someone named ChiChi that was going to fly to visit her. But the conversation sounded so weird, as did the name, that I figured it might have been part of my imagination. Next thing I knew, Edward was shaking me gently. "Bella, we're home."

"Hmm?" I sleepily lifted my head off of his shoulder, blearily squinting to try and block out the sun.

"We're home," he repeated.

"That's cool," I mumbled, laying my head back against the seat. "Go on in without me," I mumbled in the direction that I thought Alice and Rosalie must be in. "I'll be in, in a little bit."

I heard Edward snort. "Yeah, right, you will."

Then I was flying. "What're you doin'?"

The hard chest I was held against rumbled. "Taking you inside so you don't sleep in your car."

"Mmk." Too tired to argue, I rested my head against his chest and fell back asleep.

**I know it's kind of a weird place to stop, but I have a plan. XD **


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